# Alanya Old Town (Tophane) > Alanya Old Town is Tophane, the lived-in quarter on the castle hill right above the harbour and the [Red Tower](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-red-tower): 18th- and 19th-century Ottoman houses, steep lanes and sea views. It is free and open around the clock — people live here. Allow about an hour, and walk it downhill from the castle rather than up from the port. Web page: https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-old-town - City: [Alanya](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya), Turkey - YesGo score: 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 1 h - Opening hours: Open 24 hours — it is a residential quarter; cafés keep their own daytime hours - With kids: Fine with kids - Entry: Free — these are public streets - Time needed: ≈ 1 hour; 1.5 hours with a tea stop - Where: East slope of the castle peninsula, between the Red Tower and Ehmedek - Walking up from the Red Tower: ≈ 15–20 min uphill on Tophane Caddesi - Walking down from the castle: ≈ 20–30 min down Kale Caddesi and the side lanes - Water: No natural springs on the slope — every house has its own cistern - Bus up the hill: City bus no. 4 to the castle (Kale) - Cars: Most lanes are pedestrian-only or too narrow - Turkish name: Tophane Mahallesi - Coordinates: 36.53464, 31.99746 - Facts checked: 30.10.2026 ## Key facts - **Free** — it is a residential neighbourhood (mahalle) of Alanya — open at any hour (source: Alanya Municipality: Tophane Neighborhood page; Turkish Wikipedia: Tophane, Alanya) - **18th–19th c.** — when most of the old town’s Ottoman houses and villas were built (source: English Wikipedia: Alanya; Russian Wikipedia: Alanya) - **A cistern** — in every house — there is no natural water source on the slope (source: Alanya Municipality: Tophane Neighborhood page; Anadolu Agency via Habertürk, 28.07.2021) - **17th c.** — Evliya Çelebi wrote that people reached the quarter by mule (source: Alanya Municipality: Tophane Neighborhood page; Anadolu Agency via Habertürk, 28.07.2021) - **6.5 km** — of castle walls; their line runs through Tophane down to the Red Tower (source: Turkish Wikipedia: Alanya Kalesi; English Wikipedia: Alanya Castle) - **1221** — Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I took the town and began rebuilding it (source: English Wikipedia: Alanya; Turkish Wikipedia: Alanya Kalesi) - **1226** — the Red Tower at the foot of the quarter was completed — about 33 m tall (source: English Wikipedia: Red Tower (Alanya) and Alanya) - **5 bays** — in the Seljuk shipyard below the quarter, built under Keykubad in the 1220s (source: English Wikipedia: Alanya and Red Tower (Alanya)) - **Alaiye** — the Seljuk name of the town, after Sultan Alaeddin (source: English Wikipedia: Alanya; Russian Wikipedia: Alanya) - **2009** — the castle and shipyard joined UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List (source: English Wikipedia: Alanya Castle and Alanya) ## What is Alanya Old Town? When locals and guidebooks say “old town” in Alanya, they mostly mean **Tophane** — a quiet residential quarter on the eastern slope of the castle peninsula, overlooking the harbour. There is no gate or ticket desk: these are ordinary streets with washing lines, pomegranate trees in courtyards and cats on every step. Above the wall line sits the Hisariçi quarter with Ehmedek, and at the top, the citadel of [Alanya Castle](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-castle). What you come for is the **houses**: whitewashed stone ground floors, timber upper storeys with bay windows, red-tiled roofs and high courtyard walls. They step down the hill in terraces so that no house blocks its neighbour’s sea view. Many have been restored, some now hold small guesthouses and cafés, a few stand empty. This is not a souvenir-lined old town like Antalya’s Kaleiçi. Tophane has hardly any shops; the appeal is the lanes themselves and the views down to the harbour, the Red Tower and the [shipyard](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-shipyard). > **It’s steep, slippery and short on shade** Tophane is a hillside, not a flat promenade. Lanes turn into stairways and the old cobbles are polished smooth. Wear shoes with grip, and in summer go before 10:00 or after 17:00. With a pushchair, walk down from the top rather than climbing up from the harbour. ## How to get to Alanya Old Town 1. Best done top to bottom. Ride the cable car (Teleferik) from Damlataş Beach — next to [Damlataş Cave](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/damlatas-cave) — up to the Ehmedek station, or take city bus no. 4 to the castle (Kale) up Kale Caddesi. Check the number and timetable at the stop — we found it only in a travel guide. 2. From Ehmedek, walk down Kale Caddesi towards the harbour — the Tophane houses soon begin; turn into the lanes on the sea side. 3. Follow Tophane Caddesi downhill to the bastion and the Red Tower. The whole descent takes about 20–30 minutes without stops. 4. From below: walk up Tophane Caddesi from the harbour and the Red Tower — about 15–20 minutes, steep, with steps. 5. A taxi can drop you at the top of the quarter on Kale Caddesi; the narrow lanes beyond are walking only. ## Things to see in the old town - **Tophane’s Ottoman houses** — stone below, timber above, bay windows and red tiles. The finest line Tophane Caddesi and the lanes just above it. - **Tophane bastion** — the harbour fortification that gave the quarter its name, with the Red Tower right below. - **Harbour views** — every bend opens onto the port, the boats and the eastern beach stretching to the Taurus Mountains. - **The Seljuk shipyard** — five pointed arches at the waterline; from above you see how it is cut into the rock. - **Cisterns and flat roofs** — every house has its own cistern, and in places the roof of a lower house is the yard and doorstep of the one above. - **Old mosques and churches** — small neighbourhood mosques (mescit) and historic churches left by the quarter’s Christian residents. - **Terrace tea gardens and cafés** — a handful of family places with a view; prices are higher than down in town, you pay for the panorama. - Further up, in Hisariçi: the Akşebe mosque and tomb, the Süleymaniye Mosque and the Bedesten — part of a walk around the castle. Cover shoulders and knees to go into the mosques; women need a headscarf. ## Is Alanya Old Town worth it? Yes, if you are visiting the castle anyway: walking down through Tophane is the best way off the hill and takes about an hour with photo stops. Climbing up from the harbour just for the quarter on a hot afternoon is not worth it — you’ll be worn out before the good part. It suits travellers who like old architecture, quiet streets and views. If you want a lively old town packed with shops and restaurants, Kaleiçi in Antalya is a better match. Kids can manage it fine on foot, but leave the pushchair behind and avoid midday. ## A short history of the quarter There was a town on this rock in antiquity — the Romans knew it as Coracesium. Its present shape is Seljuk: in **1221** Sultan **Alaeddin Keykubad I** captured the fortress and made it his main Mediterranean naval base. The town became Alaiye, after the sultan — hence Alanya. Keykubad built the five-bay shipyard and the octagonal Red Tower (1226) at the water’s edge and ran 6.5 km of walls up the slope. Tophane grew between them; the name means “cannon house”, and guns and powder to defend the shipyard were kept at the bastion above the harbour. Life on the slope was never easy. There is no water, so every house has its own cistern, and the 17th-century traveller Evliya Çelebi wrote that people came up by mule. In 1810 the English traveller Martin Leake admired how the houses rise in terraces back to back, the flat roof of one serving as the street for the next. Today the quarter is protected and the houses are restored to their original form. Once the Ottomans no longer needed the hill as a front line, houses and villas spread across the slope — most of those still standing date from the **18th and 19th centuries**. In the 20th century the town moved down to the beaches, and Tophane stayed a quarter of old families. In 2009 the castle and shipyard joined UNESCO’s Tentative List. ## Best photo spots The classic shot is **from the sea**: on a boat trip out of the harbour you see Tophane’s houses climbing towards the castle, with the bastion and the shipyard arches at the bottom. That’s the postcard view of old Alanya. On foot, the best spots are the bends of Tophane Caddesi above the Red Tower and the terrace by the bastion, with the tower, harbour and boats below you. The slope faces east, so morning light falls straight onto the façades; by afternoon the houses are in shade. Photograph the houses, not into people’s courtyards and windows — residents live here. Ask before taking pictures of them. ## Before you go: checklist - [ ] Shoes with grip - [ ] Water and a hat — there’s little shade - [ ] Decided how to get up: cable car, bus or taxi - [ ] Walking downhill, not up from the harbour - [ ] Headscarf and covered shoulders if I’ll visit a mosque - [ ] Some cash for tea on a terrace ## Old Town vs Alanya Castle vs the Red Tower | | Old Town (Tophane) | Castle | Red Tower | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | Residential quarter of Ottoman houses | Walls and hilltop citadel | Seljuk tower on the harbour | | Entry | Free | Walls free, citadel paid | Paid museum | | Where | Slope above the harbour | Top of the peninsula | At the water | | Time needed | ≈ 1 h | 2–3 h | ≈ 30–45 min | | Highlight | Houses and harbour views | View over the whole town | Alanya’s symbol | They form one line: castle on top, Tophane on the slope, Red Tower at the bottom. Do them in that order and you only climb once — by cable car. ## Alanya’s historic sights compared Every historic sight in Alanya rated by YesGo. - [Alanya Old Town (Tophane)](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-old-town) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free - [Alanya Shipyard](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-shipyard) — YesGo score 39/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Price being verified - [Red Tower](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-red-tower) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Paid, price being verified - [Alanya Castle](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-castle) — YesGo score 35/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · Walls free, İç Kale ≈ €12 - [Syedra](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/syedra) — YesGo score 22/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · €7 for foreigners, under-8s free ## Hilltop to harbour in half a day Cable car up from the cave, the castle, then down through Tophane to the Red Tower and the shipyard. Add them to your route — YesGo fits in the timing and walks. 1. [Damlataş Cave](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/damlatas-cave) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · ≈ 225 TL, children less 2. [Alanya Castle](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-castle) — YesGo score 35/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · Walls free, İç Kale ≈ €12 3. [Alanya Old Town (Tophane)](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-old-town) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free 4. [Red Tower](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-red-tower) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Paid, price being verified 5. [Alanya Shipyard](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-shipyard) — YesGo score 39/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Price being verified ## Don’t mix it up Alanya’s Tophane is not Istanbul’s Tophane with its tram stop, and not Antalya’s old town, Kaleiçi. Side’s old town is a separate place about an hour away. “Old town” hotels and apartments on booking sites are often down by the harbour rather than in the quarter itself. ## Tips - Start at the castle and work downhill — ride up by cable car, walk down through the whole quarter. - Morning sun lights Tophane’s façades from the sea — the best time for photos. - Finish at the Red Tower and the shipyard, directly below the quarter. - A glass of tea on a harbour-view terrace is the best break halfway down. - For the full picture, take a boat trip from the harbour: from the water the houses climb all the way to the castle. ## Questions ### Where is the old town in Alanya? On the eastern slope of the castle peninsula, above the harbour and the Red Tower. The quarter is called Tophane (Tophane Mahallesi); above the walls are Hisariçi and the castle. ### Is Alanya Old Town free? Yes — it is a residential quarter with no gates or tickets. Only the museums nearby charge: the castle citadel, the Red Tower and the shipyard. ### How do I get to Alanya Old Town? Take the cable car from Damlataş Beach or city bus no. 4 up to the castle, then walk down. From the Red Tower it is a steep 15–20 minute climb. ### How long do you need in Alanya Old Town? About an hour walking down with stops, 1.5 hours with tea on a terrace. With the castle, Red Tower and shipyard, half a day. ### Is Alanya Old Town worth visiting? Yes, if you’re going to the castle — walking down through Tophane is the best way back. Climbing up just for the quarter in the heat isn’t worth it. ### What is there to see in Alanya Old Town? Ottoman houses with bay windows and red-tiled roofs, the Tophane bastion, and views down to the harbour, the Red Tower and the Seljuk shipyard. ### Can you walk from Alanya Castle down to the old town? Yes — down Kale Caddesi and then Tophane Caddesi to the harbour, about 20–30 minutes without stops. It’s steep, so wear shoes with grip. ### Is Alanya Old Town suitable for kids? Yes on foot, but not with a pushchair: there are steps and cobbles everywhere. Walk downhill and avoid midday. ### Is the old town the same as Alanya Castle? Not quite. The castle is the walls and citadel on top of the peninsula; the old town, Tophane, is the lived-in quarter on the slope below them, free to walk. They make one walk: castle first, then down through Tophane. ### What does Tophane mean? “Cannon house” in Turkish: guns and powder for defending the shipyard were kept at the bastion above the harbour. ## How we checked The quarter is residential and free, so it has no ticket price or opening hours — the municipality’s page on Tophane confirms it. A web search on 30.10.2026 could not confirm a house museum called Alanya Evi, its name or its hours, so we took it off the page. We found the castle bus number (no. 4) only in the Tripmydream guide, not in a municipal timetable, and we did not time the walks up and down — these are marked “verifying”. The cisterns and Evliya Çelebi’s mules are checked against the municipality’s page and an Anadolu Agency report; Martin Leake’s 1810 note comes from the municipality’s page. Other facts are checked against at least two sources. Sources date the shipyard to 1221 or 1228, so we say the 1220s. The Red Tower’s height is given as 33 m in the text and 29 m in the infobox; we say about 33 m. The quarter’s population changes every year, so we leave it out. We found no two independent sources for the date of the Akşebe tomb and don’t give one. ## Sources - Wikidata Q109960916: Tophane, a neighbourhood of Alanya - Turkish Wikipedia: Tophane, Alanya; Alanya Kalesi (after the Culture Portal of Türkiye and Ö. Küçükerman, Türkiye'nin Kültür Mirası 100 Kale, 2008) - English Wikipedia: Alanya; Alanya Castle; Red Tower (Alanya) - Russian Wikipedia: Alanya - Alanya Municipality (Alanya Belediyesi): Tophane Neighborhood page - Anadolu Agency via Habertürk, 28.07.2021: Surlarla çevrili mahallenin sakinleri tarihi yapılarla iç içe yaşıyor - Tripmydream: public transport in Alanya - English Wikivoyage: Alanya — the cable car and the road up to the castle --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.